Medical Device Link.

Originally Published MX March/April 2006

TOPSPIN

Russell Jones, senior training and development manager at Tyco Healthcare (Mansfield, MA), oversees training for the company's nuclear medicine arm, Tyco Healthcare/Mallinckrodt. According to Jones, the lessons picked up by his division's management in the Finance for Nonfinancial Professionals simulation have translated into business benefits on the job.

"While our managers are highly technical professionals with advanced academic degrees, they often have little managerial experience," Jones says. "This simulation demonstrates clearly how excess inventory and decreased turns tie up free cash flow, which has a negative effect on business performance.

In the Finance for Nonfinancial Professionals training course, teams chart the progress of their simulated companies on a board-game-style work mat.

"The simulation also builds a shared perspective between our regional sales representatives and our nuclear pharmacy managers. Sales reps begin to understand why we cannot make unlimited deliveries to a client hospital, while the pharmacy managers realize the financial significance of keeping customers happy."

According to Jones, fully appreciating these conflicting demands is particularly important in nuclear medicine. These products are "hot" items with extremely short half-lives that must be delivered in a timely fashion. Yet it is also necessary to factor in the high costs of delivery, especially in times of rising fuel costs.

"Now, our managers try to analyze inventory options and consider combining different routes in order to get products out in a more timely manner. This course helps shift their perspective from the technical to a more efficient business approach."

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